So easy to be first these days! TSE must have his keys taken away!
I've been on holiday for the past week.
So... you go on holiday, and nothing happens ... I mean zip, niento, bugger all, not a thing! Mike pops down to Waitrose ...!
I'm still reeling from paying £9 for a 750 ml bottle of water in London.
And you paid it? Bottled water, rather than tap, is for those with more money than sense at any price.
Comes oot the tap fur nu'hin. Nothing brings out my inner Scotsman quite like being asked to pay for water.
The problem is that, if you have got used to delicious fresh well water, then you will struggle with chlorinated town water.
Our recent trip to Bath was marred by the disgusting tap water. This was a fairly strange experience for a born and bred Londoner, who had fallen ill on a Scout trip to Galway as a teenager because the chlorine was missing from the water (not actually a diagnosis, but whatevs).
Is it acceptable to ask for a drink of the tap water when looking at a house for sale?
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
The Conservatives got their highest voteshare and number of AMs in the Senedd elections ever in 2021 under the leadership of Andrew RT Davies
He is a terrible leader at present
On electoral results alone RT is the greatest Welsh Conservative leader this century
In other news, I'm glad / alarmed / amazed to see our HST 125's, nearly fifty years old, being exported to Mexico for further service. AIUI on a new railway line:
Yes, it seems like it is three power cars and a number of coaches. That won't be enough for a full service, so I assume it's for something else. An inspection train? A luxury train?
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
Racially different, eh? Don't believe it myself. Edit: not least because many/most Scots are not 'Celtic' or at least only partly so.
And aren't the Welsh British? And Glaswegians Welsh? And Edinburgh is Northumbria.
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
The Conservatives got their highest voteshare and number of AMs in the Senedd elections ever in 2021 under the leadership of Andrew RT Davies
He is a terrible leader at present
On electoral results alone RT is the greatest Welsh Conservative leader this century
How do you assess his performance in the 2022 local elections - a loss of 86 of 197 seats or 43% if you prefer?
Makes him a better leader than Rishi Sunak who lost only 32% of Conservative local seats this year.
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
The Conservatives got their highest voteshare and number of AMs in the Senedd elections ever in 2021 under the leadership of Andrew RT Davies
He is a terrible leader at present
On electoral results alone RT is the greatest Welsh Conservative leader this century
How do you assess his performance in the 2022 local elections - a loss of 86 of 197 seats or 43% if you prefer?
Makes him a better leader than Rishi Sunak who lost only 32% of Conservative local seats this year.
In 2021 he won more Welsh AMs and voteshare than any other Tory Senedd leader ever, he is leader of the Tories in the Senedd, Rishi is national Tory UK leader and therefore more responsible for general and local election results (as well as Tory group local council leaders for the latter)
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
Racially different, eh? Don't believe it myself. Edit: not least because many/most Scots are not 'Celtic' or at least only partly so.
And aren't the Welsh British? And Glaswegians Welsh? And Edinburgh is Northumbria.
I get confused.
Source: Total War: Thrones of Britannia
I do too, vide the recent PB poster, or a quotation posted here, who referred to the British language in a context which implied it wasn't the good old Cymraeg.
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
The Conservatives got their highest voteshare and number of AMs in the Senedd elections ever in 2021 under the leadership of Andrew RT Davies
He is a terrible leader at present
On electoral results alone RT is the greatest Welsh Conservative leader this century
He isn't right now when it matters
He should have changed his surname to Tudor (which I believe is one of his middle names) it would have eliminated the confusion and sounded quite distinguished.
Phil Mickelson wagered $1 billion over three decades on sports betting and tried to stake $400,000 on the result of the Ryder Cup, according to the forthcoming autobiography of one of America’s most renowned gamblers.
Las Vegas legend Billy Walters makes the sensational claims in ‘Gambler, Secrets of a Life at Risk’ published later this month. Mickelson last year admitted that his gambling became “reckless” and “embarrassing” after another expose estimated his losses at $40 million, but the long-awaited Walters account takes the deficit to a new level.
The 77-year-old struck up a friendship with the six-time major winner in 2006 and alleges that he and Mickelson would bet together. Walters also asserts that the left-hander would frequently stake at least $100,000 on individual matches in American football, baseball and basketball and, in all, lost close to $100 million between 2010 and 2014.
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
The Conservatives got their highest voteshare and number of AMs in the Senedd elections ever in 2021 under the leadership of Andrew RT Davies
He is a terrible leader at present
On electoral results alone RT is the greatest Welsh Conservative leader this century
How do you assess his performance in the 2022 local elections - a loss of 86 of 197 seats or 43% if you prefer?
Makes him a better leader than Rishi Sunak who lost only 32% of Conservative local seats this year.
In 2021 he won more Welsh AMs and voteshare than any other Tory Senedd leader ever, he is leader of the Tories in the Senedd, Rishi is national Tory UK leader and therefore more responsible for general and local election results (as well as Tory group local council leaders for the latter)
Though there was a pretty huge halo effect for any Conservative candidate in 2021, with the vaccine bounce and all that.
On the other hand, I'd be interested to hear from BigG what ARTD has done (or not done) that's so terrible.
So easy to be first these days! TSE must have his keys taken away!
I've been on holiday for the past week.
So... you go on holiday, and nothing happens ... I mean zip, niento, bugger all, not a thing! Mike pops down to Waitrose ...!
I'm still reeling from paying £9 for a 750 ml bottle of water in London.
And you paid it? Bottled water, rather than tap, is for those with more money than sense at any price.
Comes oot the tap fur nu'hin. Nothing brings out my inner Scotsman quite like being asked to pay for water.
The problem is that, if you have got used to delicious fresh well water, then you will struggle with chlorinated town water.
Our recent trip to Bath was marred by the disgusting tap water. This was a fairly strange experience for a born and bred Londoner, who had fallen ill on a Scout trip to Galway as a teenager because the chlorine was missing from the water (not actually a diagnosis, but whatevs).
Is it acceptable to ask for a drink of the tap water when looking at a house for sale?
So easy to be first these days! TSE must have his keys taken away!
I've been on holiday for the past week.
So... you go on holiday, and nothing happens ... I mean zip, niento, bugger all, not a thing! Mike pops down to Waitrose ...!
I'm still reeling from paying £9 for a 750 ml bottle of water in London.
And you paid it? Bottled water, rather than tap, is for those with more money than sense at any price.
Comes oot the tap fur nu'hin. Nothing brings out my inner Scotsman quite like being asked to pay for water.
The problem is that, if you have got used to delicious fresh well water, then you will struggle with chlorinated town water.
Our recent trip to Bath was marred by the disgusting tap water. This was a fairly strange experience for a born and bred Londoner, who had fallen ill on a Scout trip to Galway as a teenager because the chlorine was missing from the water (not actually a diagnosis, but whatevs).
Is it acceptable to ask for a drink of the tap water when looking at a house for sale?
This is interesting (though not entirely surprising). These are likely votes lost to the Republicans for a generation.
Interesting admission from pollster Celinda Lake. In 2016, Democrats struggled to convince voters that the thrice-married Donald Trump would actually roll back abortion rights.
I’m surprised Labour haven’t made more about the NHS. It’s one of the most visible failures of the current government, and an international embarrassment.
Our French visitors the other day were moaning about their health service. Apparently sometimes people are forged off with the wrong medicines. I had to laugh - I told them how long it takes to get an elective operation and they were incredulous. Then I said how long it takes to be seen at A&E. And they started feeling happy about the French health service.
Perhaps SKS is frightened someone will ask him how much it’s going to cost or what pay rises he’d give to nurses.
So easy to be first these days! TSE must have his keys taken away!
I've been on holiday for the past week.
So... you go on holiday, and nothing happens ... I mean zip, niento, bugger all, not a thing! Mike pops down to Waitrose ...!
I'm still reeling from paying £9 for a 750 ml bottle of water in London.
And you paid it? Bottled water, rather than tap, is for those with more money than sense at any price.
Comes oot the tap fur nu'hin. Nothing brings out my inner Scotsman quite like being asked to pay for water.
The problem is that, if you have got used to delicious fresh well water, then you will struggle with chlorinated town water.
Our recent trip to Bath was marred by the disgusting tap water. This was a fairly strange experience for a born and bred Londoner, who had fallen ill on a Scout trip to Galway as a teenager because the chlorine was missing from the water (not actually a diagnosis, but whatevs).
Is it acceptable to ask for a drink of the tap water when looking at a house for sale?
It depends. If the house is occupied, maybe it would be OK.
If it isn't, I would think twice before drinking from the system. A sensible vendor will have turned water off at the main. But if they haven't, that's when nasty bugs including Legionnaires disease can start accumulating in the system.
There's a thing called Cinema Paradiso which for mail users of it is like a DVD library
Out of the 1,600 or so houses I deliver to in Marlborough there are two active subscribers
They're both young men. One of them is called Kane
The other, I kid you fucking not, is called Abel
I tell people this as one of my markers of how much I like them
If you're not struck by the unlikeliness and beauty of this coincidence, then you need rewiring
Please don't do this. Unless it's an equivalence thing, and the real names are Jekyll and Hyde. Names are googleable and Marlborough is small.
Also..
There are several young men called Kane around here
About as many as there are Richards
There is only one Abel that I've seen
Is the statement "There is a young man called Abel who lives somewhere in or around Marlborough" really problematic?
Am I helping the people hunting down someone called Abel?
Who the fuck is hunting down Abel on PB?
Fucking hell, mate, I'm not fussed, if my data get leaked 50 times over I am intensely relaxed about 50 groups of people knowing that I am Tarquin Smith of 14 Railway Cuttings, if people didn't know that how would the mail ever get to me? Other people, on the other hand, are, including (and this is my point) your employers.
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
I wasn't disagreeing, just pointing out that there is a link between NHS spending in England and the funding available to the Welsh Government.
Yes and I understand that and it applies to Scotland, but my concern is for my family and friends who are treated by Wales NHS and in the last 3 months a relative of my son in law had a botched routine operation and contacted sepsis, and died within a couple of weeks of the operation to the distress of his family
I have also learned today that the husband of a neighbour also went in for a routine operation a couple of days ago and the surgeon damaged his bowel and he very ill at present
To me the problem is right across the UK health services and while the English will attack the conservatives for their inability to resolve the issues, we are entitled to attack those in Wales equally responsible which is Wales Labour
A 35 year old GP friend of mine has just had a stroke due to medical negligence by an anaesthetist. That was in Australia.
Complications are not necessarily down to negligence. As the surgical dictum goes " the only way to have no complications is to never operate". Surgery is like any medical care about taking a balance of risk and benefit for treatment vs no treatment.
I don't think England or Wales is systemically worse at misdiagnosis or errors than other countries. International comparison is difficult, but some have tried to do this:
"The countries where hospital incidents are more prone to occur are Latvia (32%), Denmark (29%), and Poland (28%), while the countries where prescribed medication errors are more frequent are Latvia (23%) and Denmark (21%), Estonia and Malta (18% each).
Within the most accurate healthcare providers from Europe, Austria, Germany, and Hungary are having the least numbers of medical errors in hospitals (11%) and the lowest number of medical prescription errors (7%)."
"Annually, almost 12 million American people in need for outpatient medical care services are misdiagnosed, meaning that 1 out of 20 people has not been provided with the correct diagnosis.
Studies show that from the total of 12 million people misdiagnosed, between 10% and 20% are patients that present serious conditions, and 44% out of them have actually types of cancers that are misdiagnosed. The most commonly misdiagnosed are Prostate cancer, Thyroid cancer, and Breast cancer. Moreover, 28% of the misdiagnoses are life-threatening or, even, life-altering and can lead to unnecessary treatments, increased costs, physical and emotional stress, and in worst case scenarios even death."
If you want to compare quality of care by NHS Trust, probably the best indicator is the SHMI (Standardised Hospital Mortality Index. This is the number of deaths encountered vs expected, adjusted for age and social deprivation).
Recent figures are a bit affected by covid, but this was 2019 in England:
There's a thing called Cinema Paradiso which for mail users of it is like a DVD library
Out of the 1,600 or so houses I deliver to in Marlborough there are two active subscribers
They're both young men. One of them is called Kane
The other, I kid you fucking not, is called Abel
I tell people this as one of my markers of how much I like them
If you're not struck by the unlikeliness and beauty of this coincidence, then you need rewiring
Please don't do this. Unless it's an equivalence thing, and the real names are Jekyll and Hyde. Names are googleable and Marlborough is small.
Also..
There are several young men called Kane around here
About as many as there are Richards
There is only one Abel that I've seen
Is the statement "There is a young man called Abel who lives somewhere in or around Marlborough" really problematic?
Am I helping the people hunting down someone called Abel?
Who the fuck is hunting down Abel on PB?
Fucking hell, mate, I'm not fussed, if my data get leaked 50 times over I am intensely relaxed about 50 groups of people knowing that I am Tarquin Smith of 14 Railway Cuttings, if people didn't know that how would the mail ever get to me? Other people, on the other hand, are, including (and this is my point) your employers.
I mean, I don't know if the white pages telephone directory is still printed and distributed, but back in the day when a new edition came out the broadsheets didn't lead on GPO IN MASSIVE DATA LEAK
And cf all this knicker wetting about ID cards, OMG my NI number and GP surgery are going to be ON THE SAME DATABASE IT'S LIKE 1984 COME EARLY
In other news, I'm glad / alarmed / amazed to see our HST 125's, nearly fifty years old, being exported to Mexico for further service. AIUI on a new railway line:
There's a thing called Cinema Paradiso which for mail users of it is like a DVD library
Out of the 1,600 or so houses I deliver to in Marlborough there are two active subscribers
They're both young men. One of them is called Kane
The other, I kid you fucking not, is called Abel
I tell people this as one of my markers of how much I like them
If you're not struck by the unlikeliness and beauty of this coincidence, then you need rewiring
Please don't do this. Unless it's an equivalence thing, and the real names are Jekyll and Hyde. Names are googleable and Marlborough is small.
Also..
There are several young men called Kane around here
About as many as there are Richards
There is only one Abel that I've seen
Is the statement "There is a young man called Abel who lives somewhere in or around Marlborough" really problematic?
Am I helping the people hunting down someone called Abel?
Who the fuck is hunting down Abel on PB?
Fucking hell, mate, I'm not fussed, if my data get leaked 50 times over I am intensely relaxed about 50 groups of people knowing that I am Tarquin Smith of 14 Railway Cuttings, if people didn't know that how would the mail ever get to me? Other people, on the other hand, are, including (and this is my point) your employers.
I mean, I don't know if the white pages telephone directory is still printed and distributed, but back in the day when a new edition came out the broadsheets didn't lead on GPO IN MASSIVE DATA LEAK
And cf all this knicker wetting about ID cards, OMG my NI number and GP surgery are going to be ON THE SAME DATABASE IT'S LIKE 1984 COME EARLY
He's telling everyone who in the town is subscribed to certain mail order services and had previously shared photos of people's mail. It's not going to end well.
In other news, I'm glad / alarmed / amazed to see our HST 125's, nearly fifty years old, being exported to Mexico for further service. AIUI on a new railway line:
There's a thing called Cinema Paradiso which for mail users of it is like a DVD library
Out of the 1,600 or so houses I deliver to in Marlborough there are two active subscribers
They're both young men. One of them is called Kane
The other, I kid you fucking not, is called Abel
I tell people this as one of my markers of how much I like them
If you're not struck by the unlikeliness and beauty of this coincidence, then you need rewiring
Please don't do this. Unless it's an equivalence thing, and the real names are Jekyll and Hyde. Names are googleable and Marlborough is small.
Also..
There are several young men called Kane around here
About as many as there are Richards
There is only one Abel that I've seen
Is the statement "There is a young man called Abel who lives somewhere in or around Marlborough" really problematic?
Am I helping the people hunting down someone called Abel?
Who the fuck is hunting down Abel on PB?
Fucking hell, mate, I'm not fussed, if my data get leaked 50 times over I am intensely relaxed about 50 groups of people knowing that I am Tarquin Smith of 14 Railway Cuttings, if people didn't know that how would the mail ever get to me? Other people, on the other hand, are, including (and this is my point) your employers.
I mean, I don't know if the white pages telephone directory is still printed and distributed, but back in the day when a new edition came out the broadsheets didn't lead on GPO IN MASSIVE DATA LEAK
And cf all this knicker wetting about ID cards, OMG my NI number and GP surgery are going to be ON THE SAME DATABASE IT'S LIKE 1984 COME EARLY
He's telling everyone who in the town is subscribed to certain mail order services and had previously shared photos of people's mail. It's not going to end well.
Yes, I am running two, actually consistent, arguments here:
1. The fuss is ridiculous
2. The fuss about the fuss is very serious indeed, because it leads very easily indeed to job loss and criminal liability.
In other news, I'm glad / alarmed / amazed to see our HST 125's, nearly fifty years old, being exported to Mexico for further service. AIUI on a new railway line:
In other news, I'm glad / alarmed / amazed to see our HST 125's, nearly fifty years old, being exported to Mexico for further service. AIUI on a new railway line:
There's a thing called Cinema Paradiso which for mail users of it is like a DVD library
Out of the 1,600 or so houses I deliver to in Marlborough there are two active subscribers
They're both young men. One of them is called Kane
The other, I kid you fucking not, is called Abel
I tell people this as one of my markers of how much I like them
If you're not struck by the unlikeliness and beauty of this coincidence, then you need rewiring
Please don't do this. Unless it's an equivalence thing, and the real names are Jekyll and Hyde. Names are googleable and Marlborough is small.
Is the statement "There is a young man called Abel who lives somewhere in or around Marlborough" really problematic?
If I identified a named individual in the course of my job I'd be fired. Journalists have been tried and fined for it. Google "jigsaw identification". It's unethical and under certain circumstances actually illegal. Official figures (census, LA figures etc) may even be perturbed slightly to prevent it. Google "statistical disclosure control".
Waiting lists can only get higher over the winter. It could be this time next year before they start falling - if they do even then. Another nail in the Tories coffin.
Not if all the people on them died.
Are you kidding? Those in danger of death are the only supporters the Tories have left!
There's a thing called Cinema Paradiso which for mail users of it is like a DVD library
Out of the 1,600 or so houses I deliver to in Marlborough there are two active subscribers
They're both young men. One of them is called Kane
The other, I kid you fucking not, is called Abel
I tell people this as one of my markers of how much I like them
If you're not struck by the unlikeliness and beauty of this coincidence, then you need rewiring
Please don't do this. Unless it's an equivalence thing, and the real names are Jekyll and Hyde. Names are googleable and Marlborough is small.
Also..
There are several young men called Kane around here
About as many as there are Richards
There is only one Abel that I've seen
Is the statement "There is a young man called Abel who lives somewhere in or around Marlborough" really problematic?
Am I helping the people hunting down someone called Abel?
Who the fuck is hunting down Abel on PB?
Fucking hell, mate, I'm not fussed, if my data get leaked 50 times over I am intensely relaxed about 50 groups of people knowing that I am Tarquin Smith of 14 Railway Cuttings, if people didn't know that how would the mail ever get to me? Other people, on the other hand, are, including (and this is my point) your employers.
I mean, I don't know if the white pages telephone directory is still printed and distributed, but back in the day when a new edition came out the broadsheets didn't lead on GPO IN MASSIVE DATA LEAK
And cf all this knicker wetting about ID cards, OMG my NI number and GP surgery are going to be ON THE SAME DATABASE IT'S LIKE 1984 COME EARLY
The telephone directory gave you the option to remove your listing. The question is consent. What is acceptable to you may not be acceptable to somebody else and revealing details of an individual without their consent is regarded as unethical. We're not journalists (makes "ew" face).
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
Is that adjusted for Wales having an older, poorer and more socially deprived population than England? All these, and remoteness, contribute to health care demand.
And who is responsible for that other than decades of labour in power in Wales
And why do the Welsh not vote Tory?
Good question but maybe like Scotland it is the Celtic nature of the population and especially in the South Wales valleys
Also the conservatives have a very poor leader in Wales
The Conservatives got their highest voteshare and number of AMs in the Senedd elections ever in 2021 under the leadership of Andrew RT Davies
He is a terrible leader at present
On electoral results alone RT is the greatest Welsh Conservative leader this century
How do you assess his performance in the 2022 local elections - a loss of 86 of 197 seats or 43% if you prefer?
Makes him a better leader than Rishi Sunak who lost only 32% of Conservative local seats this year.
In 2021 he won more Welsh AMs and voteshare than any other Tory Senedd leader ever, he is leader of the Tories in the Senedd, Rishi is national Tory UK leader and therefore more responsible for general and local election results (as well as Tory group local council leaders for the latter)
Though there was a pretty huge halo effect for any Conservative candidate in 2021, with the vaccine bounce and all that.
On the other hand, I'd be interested to hear from BigG what ARTD has done (or not done) that's so terrible.
Waiting lists can only get higher over the winter. It could be this time next year before they start falling - if they do even then. Another nail in the Tories coffin.
Not if all the people on them died.
Are you kidding? Those in danger of death are the only supporters the Tories have left!
Social care and primary care are both f*cked and various other services that would have made for earlier, cheaper interventions (SureStart being one, but LA funding in general too) have been winnowed away. Schools are acting as frontline care services, and social work is in an even more dire state of recruitment than teaching or healthcare. Public health is dire, yet gets dominated by such pin-head-dancing as the ‘sugar tax’.
Waiting lists can only get higher over the winter. It could be this time next year before they start falling - if they do even then. Another nail in the Tories coffin.
Not if all the people on them died.
Are you kidding? Those in danger of death are the only supporters the Tories have left!
And Leavers and Hindus
Still-committed Leavers and the elderly are two groups with a very large overlap, though.
And the 2 % Hindu population in the UK does not make for an election victory.
Waiting lists can only get higher over the winter. It could be this time next year before they start falling - if they do even then. Another nail in the Tories coffin.
Not if all the people on them died.
Are you kidding? Those in danger of death are the only supporters the Tories have left!
Waiting lists can only get higher over the winter. It could be this time next year before they start falling - if they do even then. Another nail in the Tories coffin.
Not if all the people on them died.
Are you kidding? Those in danger of death are the only supporters the Tories have left!
The NHS is devolved and it is always the English NHS that is criticised, when in truth all the devolved nations are experiencing the same issues albeit Wales is run by Labour and Scotland by the SNP/Greens
Indeed Drakeford indicated yesterday of an overspend of nearly 1 billion in Wales, and suggested cuts will be needed in the Wales NHS and Education, notwithstanding that Wales receives £1.20 per head from the treasury compared to £1 in England
That reads as a desperate attempt to somehow exonerate the Conservatives.
The truth is your party has led the Government for the last thirteen years or more - apart from throwing money at it (allegedly), what have the Conservatives actually done to improve the English NHS?
As an example, in my part of London, we are constantly building new flats and increasing the population but where are the medical services to support the increased population? Where are the new Medical Centres, the new GP surgeries, the additional hospital capacity?
This is where those who argue for an unfettered planning process have it so wrong - they forget housing isn't just about four walls and a roof for someone to live but it's about all the amenities and networks supporting that new property from sewage and drainage via power to transport and medical.
All significant developments should be supported by additional infrastructure paid for and provided by the developer as a condition for granting permission - the current Section 106 arrangements are a sop, we need something with serious financial teeth.
I reject that accusation as my family and friends live here in Wales and have had terrible experiences of our NHS and our health authority are in special measures
How England performs does not affect us, but Wales certainly does and when I read of the failures in England's NHS I only have to look at ours and see the same and even worse issues
The wider point is no political party has the answer to the NHS either in England or the devolved nations
Not quite - if England's performance improves, the amount of money that is allocated to Wales will fall in line with that reduction in spending (or vice versa). You should be grateful that England is doing so badly!
I'm assuming Wales' funding works a bit likes ours in Scotland.
Wales already receives £1.20 in Barnett formula (£1 in England) and has overspent by nearly one billion and even Drakeford announced this week cuts to NHS and Education will be needed
And let's not pretend this is recent, Wales NHS has been failing for years and long before the 2019 GE
I wasn't disagreeing, just pointing out that there is a link between NHS spending in England and the funding available to the Welsh Government.
Yes and I understand that and it applies to Scotland, but my concern is for my family and friends who are treated by Wales NHS and in the last 3 months a relative of my son in law had a botched routine operation and contacted sepsis, and died within a couple of weeks of the operation to the distress of his family
I have also learned today that the husband of a neighbour also went in for a routine operation a couple of days ago and the surgeon damaged his bowel and he very ill at present
To me the problem is right across the UK health services and while the English will attack the conservatives for their inability to resolve the issues, we are entitled to attack those in Wales equally responsible which is Wales Labour
A 35 year old GP friend of mine has just had a stroke due to medical negligence by an anaesthetist. That was in Australia.
Complications are not necessarily down to negligence. As the surgical dictum goes " the only way to have no complications is to never operate". Surgery is like any medical care about taking a balance of risk and benefit for treatment vs no treatment.
I don't think England or Wales is systemically worse at misdiagnosis or errors than other countries. International comparison is difficult, but some have tried to do this:
"The countries where hospital incidents are more prone to occur are Latvia (32%), Denmark (29%), and Poland (28%), while the countries where prescribed medication errors are more frequent are Latvia (23%) and Denmark (21%), Estonia and Malta (18% each).
Within the most accurate healthcare providers from Europe, Austria, Germany, and Hungary are having the least numbers of medical errors in hospitals (11%) and the lowest number of medical prescription errors (7%)."
"Annually, almost 12 million American people in need for outpatient medical care services are misdiagnosed, meaning that 1 out of 20 people has not been provided with the correct diagnosis.
Studies show that from the total of 12 million people misdiagnosed, between 10% and 20% are patients that present serious conditions, and 44% out of them have actually types of cancers that are misdiagnosed. The most commonly misdiagnosed are Prostate cancer, Thyroid cancer, and Breast cancer. Moreover, 28% of the misdiagnoses are life-threatening or, even, life-altering and can lead to unnecessary treatments, increased costs, physical and emotional stress, and in worst case scenarios even death."
If you want to compare quality of care by NHS Trust, probably the best indicator is the SHMI (Standardised Hospital Mortality Index. This is the number of deaths encountered vs expected, adjusted for age and social deprivation).
Recent figures are a bit affected by covid, but this was 2019 in England:
The NHS spends too much money keeping people alive that shouldn't be. An example is my father now 83....they keep curing him, he doesnt know what day of the week it is....half the time he doesnt know who I am. He cant dress himself, cant cook for himself.....basically using up the time of two people having to look after him. Frankly stop let him go I dont want him to end up in a home which he would hate and its where he is heading. He has little quality of life yet the fuckwits still go yes we can keep him going
There's a thing called Cinema Paradiso which for mail users of it is like a DVD library
Out of the 1,600 or so houses I deliver to in Marlborough there are two active subscribers
They're both young men. One of them is called Kane
The other, I kid you fucking not, is called Abel
I tell people this as one of my markers of how much I like them
If you're not struck by the unlikeliness and beauty of this coincidence, then you need rewiring
Please don't do this. Unless it's an equivalence thing, and the real names are Jekyll and Hyde. Names are googleable and Marlborough is small.
You set me up beautifully
I do have a Jacqueline Hide on my route
And a Raymond Scarr
Am I a real postie, or Terry Wogan's ghost?
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we shouldn't centralise all the information on government databases into one central database.
I've spoken with both Mrs Hide and Mr Scarr. Neither minds me telling people about their funny names coming from Marlborough
Nor do Abel's Mum or Kane's Dad
I don't have it in writing, but I doubt I'll need it
I remember teaching a Kelvin, whose surname was/is Hall...
The best names story I heard was when Neil Marten was showing some of his constituents around the Palace of Westminster.
In the Great Hall he came across his old friend, Quintin Hailsham, who was Lord High Chancellor at the time - fully robed with his Mace being carried in front of his and surrounded by assorted flunkies with silver buckles.
Ever mischievous, Hailsham lifted one arm in the air and roared “Neil!” across the empty void.
Waiting lists can only get higher over the winter. It could be this time next year before they start falling - if they do even then. Another nail in the Tories coffin.
Not if all the people on them died.
Are you kidding? Those in danger of death are the only supporters the Tories have left!
And Leavers and Hindus
Hindus slightly favour Labour in fact.
They did pre Rishi, as the huge swing to the Tories in Hindu heavy Leicester in the local elections and the Tory hold in strong Hindu Uxbridge showed they don't now
Michelle Obama would be my no.1 choice. She would be far superior to Kamala Harris who is just a career politician. But since I'm a pessimist I doubt that Mrs Obama will run.
Michelle Obama would be my no.1 choice. She would be far superior to Kamala Harris who is just a career politician. But since I'm a pessimist I doubt that Mrs Obama will run.
Both Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris used to be lawyers.
Blimey, the SNP must be getting a very poor reception on the doorsteps of Rutherglen and Hamilton West if this is where their by-election campaign strategy is heading already!
Michelle Obama would be my no.1 choice. She would be far superior to Kamala Harris who is just a career politician. But since I'm a pessimist I doubt that Mrs Obama will run.
Both Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris used to be lawyers.
So as a politics geek I was thrilled to pass this afternoon, in a matter of a few miles, through Bretton Woods then Hart’s Location. Whilst the Mount Washington Hotel at the former was visible from afar, I didn’t find anywhere where I could get a photo in front of a sign at the latter. Heaven knows where they go to vote, it was all forest….
Anyway I recommend the drive up Mount Washington, fab views.
I saw something online about some evangelical pastors getting worried as they apparently quote from things like the sermon on the mount and get angry parishioners coming up to them asking where this lefty liberal crap is coming from. When told its Jesus it apparently doesn't shake the angry people.
So as a politics geek I was thrilled to pass this afternoon, in a matter of a few miles, through Bretton Woods then Hart’s Location. Whilst the Mount Washington Hotel at the former was visible from afar, I didn’t find anywhere where I could get a photo in front of a sign at the latter. Heaven knows where they go to vote, it was all forest….
Anyway I recommend the drive up Mount Washington, fab views.
I've been lucky enough to visit the hotel and sit in the room where apparently the famous meeting took place. Also been on the cog railway. 2015 IIRC.
She’s said she’s not interested. There’s no evidence ever to suggest she would be interested. Don’t waste your hope
The absolute state of these puff pieces. Toby Young was adamant Gavin Newsom would be the nominee a few weeks back
The Telegraph is perhaps not the most authoritative voice on US politics. Or much else. They should stick to the internal politics of the Conservative Party.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
In other news, I'm glad / alarmed / amazed to see our HST 125's, nearly fifty years old, being exported to Mexico for further service. AIUI on a new railway line:
I raise you the 1972 Stock on the Bakerloo Line, already 51 years old!
If they can last another 20 years, they’ll be old enough to send to the Isle Of Wight.
Railway vehicles have a fantastically long working life. One of the many reasons why our railway network is so expensive is that under political pressure we have tended since privatisation to buy fleets of shinny new trains to replace stuff that's only half worn out.
Worth pointing out that bits of the critical infrastructure on network rail still rely on class 37s - the older ones of which are now celibrating their 63rd birthday.
Meanwhile, the battery locos which keep the infrastructure maintained on the tube were built in the 1960s on the running gear of withdraw 1923 stock, so some of them are running round with components pushing 100 years old.
I think we're probably the only country in the world that would produce two competing GDP figures that are wildly different on the same day. Loads of people this morning asking the same question, "is it 0.4% or 0.9%?" I'm going with 0.4% but other people suggest the 0.9% is probably a more accurate reflection of where we are because the monthly index has proved itself better with fewer revisions than the quarterly number.
I thought it was the woke who were wanting to ban the classics for offending someone or other. Who would have thought the anti-wokists were a bunch of hypocrites and authoritarians? I'm sure none of us saw that coming.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
The US is the clear outlier there for two main reasons: lack of consolidated buying power, because the market is decentralised; and higher salaries for healthcare professionals.
France seems excellent value for money. My experience of the system has been spotless modern hospitals with virtually no waiting and rapid treatment, generous doling out of medicine, and very competent nursing staff.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
Always worth bearing in mind how staggeringly inefficient the US private healthcare system is, but certainly there are things to learn from France and Germany. If I felt the Tories could be trusted I would be happier breaking with some of the NHS shiboleths, but my concern is once you go down the route of some insurance component and a more mixed provision the Tories are going to fuck the whole thing up and sell things to their pals or to well financed US private equity groups, like they fuck up everything they get their avaricious, incompetent and corrupt little hands on. Making the NHS into our state religion may be the only way to protect it from utter destruction next time they get into power.
I thought it was the woke who were wanting to ban the classics for offending someone or other. Who would have thought the anti-wokists were a bunch of hypocrites and authoritarians? I'm sure none of us saw that coming.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
Always worth bearing in mind how staggeringly inefficient the US private healthcare system is, but certainly there are things to learn from France and Germany. If I felt the Tories could be trusted I would be happier breaking with some of the NHS shiboleths, but my concern is once you go down the route of some insurance component and a more mixed provision the Tories are going to fuck the whole thing up and sell things to their pals or to well financed US private equity groups, like they fuck up everything they get their avaricious, incompetent and corrupt little hands on. Making the NHS into our state religion may be the only way to protect it from utter destruction next time they get into power.
Or alternatively, may make reforms so difficult the whole thing implodes and whoever is in power can have a free hand with the remains of it (and Labour are just as capable of selling things to their chums and can be even more avaricious, incompetent and corrupt. This is about politicians not particular parties).
Dogma is the enemy of good public sector provision, regardless of whose dogma we are talking about.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
Always worth bearing in mind how staggeringly inefficient the US private healthcare system is, but certainly there are things to learn from France and Germany. If I felt the Tories could be trusted I would be happier breaking with some of the NHS shiboleths, but my concern is once you go down the route of some insurance component and a more mixed provision the Tories are going to fuck the whole thing up and sell things to their pals or to well financed US private equity groups, like they fuck up everything they get their avaricious, incompetent and corrupt little hands on. Making the NHS into our state religion may be the only way to protect it from utter destruction next time they get into power.
Or alternatively, may make reforms so difficult the whole thing implodes and whoever is in power can have a free hand with the remains of it (and Labour are just as capable of selling things to their chums and can be even more avaricious, incompetent and corrupt. This is about politicians not particular parties).
Dogma is the enemy of good public sector provision, regardless of whose dogma we are talking about.
I think the current government has set the bar so high on incompetence, avarice and corruption that I really struggle to see Labour getting anywhere near it any time soon.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
The US is the clear outlier there for two main reasons: lack of consolidated buying power, because the market is decentralised; and higher salaries for healthcare professionals.
France seems excellent value for money. My experience of the system has been spotless modern hospitals with virtually no waiting and rapid treatment, generous doling out of medicine, and very competent nursing staff.
As well as inputs, we should occasionally glance at health outcomes and remind ourselves the United States has higher cancer survival rates than Europe, and that Britain has worse.
I think we're probably the only country in the world that would produce two competing GDP figures that are wildly different on the same day. Loads of people this morning asking the same question, "is it 0.4% or 0.9%?" I'm going with 0.4% but other people suggest the 0.9% is probably a more accurate reflection of where we are because the monthly index has proved itself better with fewer revisions than the quarterly number.
Er it's 0.2% for q/q growth in Q2, not 0.4% or 0.9%. Not sure what you mean about competing measures either. The monthly and quarterly data are consistent with each other.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
Always worth bearing in mind how staggeringly inefficient the US private healthcare system is, but certainly there are things to learn from France and Germany. If I felt the Tories could be trusted I would be happier breaking with some of the NHS shiboleths, but my concern is once you go down the route of some insurance component and a more mixed provision the Tories are going to fuck the whole thing up and sell things to their pals or to well financed US private equity groups, like they fuck up everything they get their avaricious, incompetent and corrupt little hands on. Making the NHS into our state religion may be the only way to protect it from utter destruction next time they get into power.
Or alternatively, may make reforms so difficult the whole thing implodes and whoever is in power can have a free hand with the remains of it (and Labour are just as capable of selling things to their chums and can be even more avaricious, incompetent and corrupt. This is about politicians not particular parties).
Dogma is the enemy of good public sector provision, regardless of whose dogma we are talking about.
I think the current government has set the bar so high on incompetence, avarice and corruption that I really struggle to see Labour getting anywhere near it any time soon.
The trouble with politics is it’s about priorities, and for all their occasional pious talk about healthcare the Tories’ priorities in the last couple of years have been Brexit, arguing about tax cuts, and pretending to stop the boats.
I think we're probably the only country in the world that would produce two competing GDP figures that are wildly different on the same day. Loads of people this morning asking the same question, "is it 0.4% or 0.9%?" I'm going with 0.4% but other people suggest the 0.9% is probably a more accurate reflection of where we are because the monthly index has proved itself better with fewer revisions than the quarterly number.
Er it's 0.2% for q/q growth in Q2, not 0.4% or 0.9%. Not sure what you mean about competing measures either. The monthly and quarterly data are consistent with each other.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
Always worth bearing in mind how staggeringly inefficient the US private healthcare system is, but certainly there are things to learn from France and Germany. If I felt the Tories could be trusted I would be happier breaking with some of the NHS shiboleths, but my concern is once you go down the route of some insurance component and a more mixed provision the Tories are going to fuck the whole thing up and sell things to their pals or to well financed US private equity groups, like they fuck up everything they get their avaricious, incompetent and corrupt little hands on. Making the NHS into our state religion may be the only way to protect it from utter destruction next time they get into power.
Or alternatively, may make reforms so difficult the whole thing implodes and whoever is in power can have a free hand with the remains of it (and Labour are just as capable of selling things to their chums and can be even more avaricious, incompetent and corrupt. This is about politicians not particular parties).
Dogma is the enemy of good public sector provision, regardless of whose dogma we are talking about.
I think the current government has set the bar so high on incompetence, avarice and corruption that I really struggle to see Labour getting anywhere near it any time soon.
Do you? You're lucky then.
I will probably vote Labour, but give a party that thinks Lesley Griffiths is fit to be a minister ten years in government and I'm sure they'll find fascinating new ways of siphoning off our money and wrecking public services.
I saw something online about some evangelical pastors getting worried as they apparently quote from things like the sermon on the mount and get angry parishioners coming up to them asking where this lefty liberal crap is coming from. When told its Jesus it apparently doesn't shake the angry people.
Just an anecdote, but amusing if true.
They ought to quote from the Sermon on the Mound, is what their parishioners want, perhaps? Scope for confusion there.
No party will go near the NHS in terms of a major reform . Its too dangerous to their election chances . You can get away with more people treated in the private sector to help lower waiting lists but you’re not asking people to pay anything extra or making fundamental changes to the model .
The French system whilst not perfect has many areas that the British could learn from and its public private model works well.
The private isn’t what many would properly class as in the true sense of the term . It’s non-profit based in the main .
Both main parties have made major reforms to the NHS.
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
The US is the clear outlier there for two main reasons: lack of consolidated buying power, because the market is decentralised; and higher salaries for healthcare professionals.
France seems excellent value for money. My experience of the system has been spotless modern hospitals with virtually no waiting and rapid treatment, generous doling out of medicine, and very competent nursing staff.
As well as inputs, we should occasionally glance at health outcomes and remind ourselves the United States has higher cancer survival rates than Europe, and that Britain has worse.
Britain does pretty poorly on most scores. “Europe” isn’t a helpful unit because its health systems vary massively. France tends to come out top on most outcomes based measures for the largest economies, though behind some Scandinavian countries.
Cancer is interesting - over 65 almost everyone qualifies for Medicare in the US so there’s not the same inequality of access as for younger people.
It's probably based on the idea that using cash is more expensive than card, therefore anyone charging less for cash must be making the margin up illegally.
As we can see that is well established as an idea (including on these boards) but if you live near a bank branch with a night safe isn't actually correct.
I think we're probably the only country in the world that would produce two competing GDP figures that are wildly different on the same day. Loads of people this morning asking the same question, "is it 0.4% or 0.9%?" I'm going with 0.4% but other people suggest the 0.9% is probably a more accurate reflection of where we are because the monthly index has proved itself better with fewer revisions than the quarterly number.
Er it's 0.2% for q/q growth in Q2, not 0.4% or 0.9%. Not sure what you mean about competing measures either. The monthly and quarterly data are consistent with each other.
I think too that wet July's figures will not look good next to sunny June's. A lot of sales on trying to clear unsold summer stock, from BBQ meats to summer clothes.
Health care strikes contributing to anaemic growth and to growing waiting lists, with 2 more Consultant strikes planned in August and aseptember. Perhaps it is time for the government to actually negotiate.
Trying to cancel my TV licence and get a refund (moving away).
Aggressive warnings about police action if I watch TV
Deliberately misleading about what you can watch without one
You can only cancel it 14 days in advance (convinced this is so people forget)
I have to provide proof that I am moving away (so I'm sending them my visa ?!)
I'm never getting a TV licence again.
They kept sending harassing post after my dad died. I had to send a pretty emphatic letter to tell them to lay off. Even then they said they'd start up again in a year, or something, and they did.
Remember in Scotland the law re TV licensing is different. AIUI it's the PF who decides prosecutions - not the BBC or their commercial thugs. I wonder if their bumf even recognises that?
I think we're probably the only country in the world that would produce two competing GDP figures that are wildly different on the same day. Loads of people this morning asking the same question, "is it 0.4% or 0.9%?" I'm going with 0.4% but other people suggest the 0.9% is probably a more accurate reflection of where we are because the monthly index has proved itself better with fewer revisions than the quarterly number.
Er it's 0.2% for q/q growth in Q2, not 0.4% or 0.9%. Not sure what you mean about competing measures either. The monthly and quarterly data are consistent with each other.
I think too that wet July's figures will not look good next to sunny June's. A lot of sales on trying to clear unsold summer stock, from BBQ meats to summer clothes.
Health care strikes contributing to anaemic growth and to growing waiting lists, with 2 more Consultant strikes planned in August and aseptember. Perhaps it is time for the government to actually negotiate.
Or for Consultants who earn £200k+ pa to stop complaining
Comments
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30189556/
I get confused.
Source: Total War: Thrones of Britannia
Makes him a better leader than Rishi Sunak who lost only 32% of Conservative local seats this year.
Phil Mickelson wagered $1 billion over three decades on sports betting and tried to stake $400,000 on the result of the Ryder Cup, according to the forthcoming autobiography of one of America’s most renowned gamblers.
Las Vegas legend Billy Walters makes the sensational claims in ‘Gambler, Secrets of a Life at Risk’ published later this month. Mickelson last year admitted that his gambling became “reckless” and “embarrassing” after another expose estimated his losses at $40 million, but the long-awaited Walters account takes the deficit to a new level.
The 77-year-old struck up a friendship with the six-time major winner in 2006 and alleges that he and Mickelson would bet together. Walters also asserts that the left-hander would frequently stake at least $100,000 on individual matches in American football, baseball and basketball and, in all, lost close to $100 million between 2010 and 2014.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/golf/2023/08/10/phil-mickelson-betting-new-book-ryder-cup-billy-walters/
I do have a Jacqueline Hide on my route
And a Raymond Scarr
Am I a real postie, or Terry Wogan's ghost?
On the other hand, I'd be interested to hear from BigG what ARTD has done (or not done) that's so terrible.
There are several young men called Kane around here
About as many as there are Richards
There is only one Abel that I've seen
Is the statement "There is a young man called Abel who lives somewhere in or around Marlborough" really problematic?
Am I helping the people hunting down someone called Abel?
Who the fuck is hunting down Abel on PB?
These are likely votes lost to the Republicans for a generation.
Interesting admission from pollster Celinda Lake. In 2016, Democrats struggled to convince voters that the thrice-married Donald Trump would actually roll back abortion rights.
Then came his three Supreme Court justices and Dobbs. Now it’s different.
https://twitter.com/sahilkapur/status/1689398765596160000
Our French visitors the other day were moaning about their health service. Apparently sometimes people are forged off with the wrong medicines. I had to laugh - I told them how long it takes to get an elective operation and they were incredulous. Then I said how long it takes to be seen at A&E. And they started feeling happy about the French health service.
Perhaps SKS is frightened someone will ask him how much it’s going to cost or what pay rises he’d give to nurses.
If it isn't, I would think twice before drinking from the system. A sensible vendor will have turned water off at the main. But if they haven't, that's when nasty bugs including Legionnaires disease can start accumulating in the system.
Recent figures are a bit affected by covid, but this was 2019 in England:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:59f39d5f-d22d-422b-9a85-18c35a7cb982
I haven't yet found comparable figures for Wales.
Nor do Abel's Mum or Kane's Dad
I don't have it in writing, but I doubt I'll need it
And cf all this knicker wetting about ID cards, OMG my NI number and GP surgery are going to be ON THE SAME DATABASE IT'S LIKE 1984 COME EARLY
We were beyond delighted to learn there was a Mr Wankowski in Peterborough.
1. The fuss is ridiculous
2. The fuss about the fuss is very serious indeed, because it leads very easily indeed to job loss and criminal liability.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_484
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1689674900829618176?t=LYBNsnx2vpIx3kUg0Sqahg&s=19
The NHS is the end of the line here.
And the 2 % Hindu population in the UK does not make for an election victory.
In the Great Hall he came across his old friend, Quintin Hailsham, who was Lord High Chancellor at the time - fully robed with his Mace being carried in front of his and surrounded by assorted flunkies with silver buckles.
Ever mischievous, Hailsham lifted one arm in the air and roared “Neil!” across the empty void.
And the visitors did…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUej2pWLUUc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbenheimer
https://twitter.com/ChrisMusson/status/1689765572756549632
Florida school district cites 'pre-marital sex' as reason to ban students studying play
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/08/09/william-shakespeare-cancelled-romeo-and-juliet-ron-desantis/ (£££)
Anyway I recommend the drive up Mount Washington, fab views.
Just an anecdote, but amusing if true.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-66470026
They should stick to the internal politics of the Conservative Party.
I expect this will trigger some
https://twitter.com/GavinCurnow/status/1689602285909737472?t=3Mxz2FMI8uHkV8iKp9JjPw&s=19
The French system spends more money per person. To quote the ONS:
“In 2017, the UK spent £2,989 per person on healthcare, which was around the median for members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: OECD (£2,913 per person).
“However, of the G7 group of large, developed economies, UK healthcare spending per person was the second-lowest, with the highest spenders being France (£3,737), Germany (£4,432) and the United States (£7,736).”
Worth pointing out that bits of the critical infrastructure on network rail still rely on class 37s - the older ones of which are now celibrating their 63rd birthday.
Meanwhile, the battery locos which keep the infrastructure maintained on the tube were built in the 1960s on the running gear of withdraw 1923 stock, so some of them are running round with components pushing 100 years old.
France seems excellent value for money. My experience of the system has been spotless modern hospitals with virtually no waiting and rapid treatment, generous doling out of medicine, and very competent nursing staff.
Dogma is the enemy of good public sector provision, regardless of whose dogma we are talking about.
I will probably vote Labour, but give a party that thinks Lesley Griffiths is fit to be a minister ten years in government and I'm sure they'll find fascinating new ways of siphoning off our money and wrecking public services.
Cancer is interesting - over 65 almost everyone qualifies for Medicare in the US so there’s not the same inequality of access as for younger people.
- Aggressive warnings about police action if I watch TV
- Deliberately misleading about what you can watch without one
- You can only cancel it 14 days in advance (convinced this is so people forget)
- I have to provide proof that I am moving away (so I'm sending them my visa ?!)
I'm never getting a TV licence again.As we can see that is well established as an idea (including on these boards) but if you live near a bank branch with a night safe isn't actually correct.
Health care strikes contributing to anaemic growth and to growing waiting lists, with 2 more Consultant strikes planned in August and aseptember. Perhaps it is time for the government to actually negotiate.
Remember in Scotland the law re TV licensing is different. AIUI it's the PF who decides prosecutions - not the BBC or their commercial thugs. I wonder if their bumf even recognises that?
Inflation on track?
Economy growing, even if it doesn't feel that way?
Debt still seems to be going up?
Waiting lists growing?
Boats unstopped?
Not great on a test the PM devised himself.